RESULTS OF THE QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION
4.2 Findings
4.2.3 The Meaning of Work Passion for Innovative Work Behavior (RQ3) Research question 3 explored the meaning of work passion for innovative
Three out of 40 clauses showed the behavior of conducting training for the related person/unit at the idea realization stage. Since some of the proposed ideas/solutions were new and the person involved had not enough background regarding them, training was needed to implement the ideas in order to familiarize them with the new project. Interview #12, the owner of Hotel O, stated how he helped train the community in service.
Interviewee #12: The new business concept of my hostel had a community involved, then I need to train the local people to communicate with guests of my hostel.
The idea realization stage introduces the innovative ideas to be applied, evaluated/tested, and implemented in the work environment. The participants revealed some difficulties at this stage in terms of a lack of collaboration, risk taking in trying new things, and some criticism from related persons. However, the participants felt positive toward their new ideas/solutions/projects, and they tried their best in implementation.
4.2.3 The Meaning of Work Passion for Innovative Work Behavior (RQ3)
Table 4.4 Summary of the Meaning of Work Passion for Innovative Work Behavior No. Category Operational Definition
All Participants Executives Employees
Affect
1. Complacency (love, pride, self-satisfied)
A deeply self-satisfied with an
individual work and being proud of the success of the business
25 5 20
2. Euphoria (excitement, joy, fun)
Excitement, challenge and having fun to serve different guests from everywhere the best service
22 5 17
3. Anxiety (pressure, stress, worry)
A negative state of mind that results from too much concern for a situation of the business or something with an uncertain outcome
5 2 3
Cognition 4. Concentration
on developing business
The determination in creating and developing products/services and processes in order to enhance the guest’s satisfaction and the growth of the business
17 7 10
5. Concern for stakeholders
The determination to take care of and provide a positive experience to all stakeholders.
22 6 16
6. Sense of ownership
A state of loving and being part of the hotel business which result in intention to create and deliver the best service
15 9 6
Table 4.4 (Continued)
No. Category Operational Definition
All Participants Executives Employees
Intention/Behavioral 7. Striving for
Excellence
A high performance in an individual function to create the best solutions for the hotel
30 10 20
8. Eagerness to Learn
A preference to learn and develop themselves from the performing of tasks
3 - 3
9. Exertion/Never giving up
A willingness to think and create things no matter the time and effort spent to complete the tasks
4 2 2
10. Altruism A willingness to do things that brings advantage/well-being to others with the involvement of the hotel and tourism business
6 6 -
11. Entrepreneurial Spirit
The behavior of managing and developing the business in order to make some changes and expecting to see growth
20 9 11
When the participants were asked about their perceived meaning of work passion for the question “What is the meaning of work passion for innovative work behavior among executives and employees of the small hotel businesses?”, they showed different categories as follows.
4.2.3.1 Complacency (Love, pride, self-satisfied)
Complacency refers to internal self-satisfaction in performing a service job. The participants revealed that complacency was derived from the work that
matched their personality and that was meaningful to them. This work complacency allowed them to be themselves at work and created the best services for the guests.
Some owner participants also mentioned their pride in continuing their family hotel business legacy and creating distinguished development from the previous generation.
Twenty-five out of forty participants reported that they have experienced love, pride, and self-satisfaction while being engaged in the work activities. The following quotes are examples of the staff and owners of small hotel businesses.
Interviewee #26: I love my job. I have never been tired of serving my guests.
I don’t expect anything but the smile of our guests.
Interviewee #37: My parents started the business from zero and then we transformed it in a modern style. Even though it is not completely done, I feel so proud to successfully continue my parent’s business.
The participants felt overwhelmingly proud of the job and the success of the hotel business, which drove them to think and create further. Work passion enabled them to work with their heart and brought happiness to them.
4.2.3.2 Euphoria (excitement, joy, fun)
Euphoria refers to excitement, challenge and having fun to serve different guests from all over the world. The participants engaged in enjoyable and challenging daily activities which led them to have passion in creating or making some improvements regularly in their work. The more excitement and challenges that the guests produced, the more energy the staff put into satisfying their guests.
Twenty-two out of forty participants revealed that they experienced high excitement, challenge, fun, and joy while attempting to create an impressive service for their guests.
Interviewee #21: It is fun and challenging. I enjoy dealing with guest requests/complaints. The situations are different every day. When guests are satisfied and appreciate our service, I want to make it better and better.
Interviewee #28: It was so excited to serve and impress our foreign guests as they chose us to be their destination for wedding party and their honeymoon vacation.
Most of the participants put their energy into developing new products/services or encountering any challenges effectively. Work passion affected them emotionally and acted as a source of power that was displayed in the form of excitement and enthusiasm toward the job they experienced.
4.2.3.3 Anxiety (pressure, stress, worry)
Anxiety refers to a negative state of mind that results from too much concern for a situation of the business or something with an uncertain outcome.
While work passion could lead to positive emotions for an individual, the dualistic mode of passion could also lead to some negative emotions while engaging in work activity. Five out of 40 participants, especially in the executive group, showed intense feeling toward creating and improving their businesses in order to be a market leader or to attain the hotel’s goals.
Interviewee #13: It’s fun, but anxious, at the same time when I have a mission from the owner to accomplish within a time limitation.
Interviewee #16: The business needs to run and be improved continuously. Since we aimed to be market leader, we need to accept the pressure that pushes us to think and create something new all the time such as updated a set of menu regularly.
Some of the participants, employees of a hotel, had a negative state of mind in that they felt too worried about the customers, whether their guests would have pleasant service during their time-off from work. Interviewee #12 said that she really engaged with her customers. Despite her holiday, she still come to work and stay around the hostel. She felt worried that her guests will get the pleasant service served by others staff.
4.2.3.4 Concentration on Developing Business
Passionate executives and employees showed determination in creating and developing products/services and processes in order to enhance the guests’
satisfaction and the growth of the business. The participants reported that they were usually involved in finding a way to impress their guests, improve their products/services, increase the revenue of the hotel, and renovate the property.
Seventeen out of fourty participants reported that they fully concentrated on the development of the business as they really engaged with their work, customers, and the owner of the business.
Interviewee #33: I regularly find out an obstacle in our working procedure at bar operation which I will eliminate it right away for example, staff in some shift didn’t boil the herb drink before leaving their shift. I would like to see the same standard of work in every shift so our guests can enjoy the best service whenever they arrive.
The participants knew their roles perfectly and performed their duties well. As they work in family-based management, they tended to share ideas and work as a team. Work passion was the strong feelings that captured individual attention and motivated individuals to perform purposive action. The cognitive mechanism inside the individual’s mind provided them with a reason to support their own actions.
4.2.3.5 Concern for Stakeholders
Concern for stakeholders refers to the determination to take care of and provide positive experiences for all stakeholders, which included guests, employees, management, and the community. The executives and employees revealed that they had concern for the stakeholders, especially the customers. Some of the participants mentioned that the happiness of the guests drove their passion to provide a remarkable service while the executive participants revealed their determination to nurture the community around the hotel’s area. Twenty-two out of 40 participants reported that they were willing to do everything for the happiness and the well-being of others.
Interviewee #14: It is such a meaningful job for me. This job creates a positive feeling toward the guests. I love sharing and learning with my guests. Right now, I have many connections from guests in different countries.
Consequently, I need to make sure they will see something new when they come back, for example, a new sightseeing place for a day trip.
Work passion drove the participants’ determination to provide positive experiences for the guests as well as to take good care of all of the hotel’s surroundings, such as the community.
4.2.3.6 Sense of Ownership
Sense of ownership refers to a state of loving and being part of the hotel business, which results in the intention to create and deliver the best service. Fifteen out of 40 participants revealed their feeling of love and happiness in the service job, so they naturally delivered the best service. Moreover, the owners/executives empowered staff to take good care of the business on behalf of the owner of the business. For example, the owner of Boutique N mentioned that some of her guests recognized her staff as the owner of the hotel, which she interpreted as successful management.
Interviewee #21: Loving my job helps pushing me to think and create things by myself. For example, I create the fresh fruit counter at the restaurant so it motivated guests to order a drink menu of fruit juice. I don’t have to wait for the command of my boss. I have a sense of ownership.
There was a drive that pushed the staff beyond its limit and to have a strong sense of being determined. Some of the participants had never thought of their workplace as a workplace, but thought of it as their home that they needed to take care of very well.
4.2.3.7 Striving for Excellence
Striving for excellence means high performance in an individual function to create the best solutions for hotels. Thirty out of 40 participants described striving for excellence as a consequence of loving with their job and having concern for all stakeholders. In addition, problem-solving and creativity skills were thought to be required in order to perform at their best. The following quote from a staff member demonstrates this idea.
Interviewee #6: I really want to do my best in my job in order to appreciate my guests. My wish for them is to have a great experience with my products (coffee and snack) and come back to buy it again.
It seems that the participants were willing to perform with high energy and devotion to reach excellent outcomes. Interestingly, the participants showed the commitment that they put into the work and the excellent outcomes in terms of income, brand, and hotel performance.
4.2.3.8 Eagerness to Learn
Eagerness to learn refers to the preference to learn and develop themselves in performing tasks. Three out of 40 participants stated the feeling of love, excitement, and surprise that they learned a lot more than from the degree that they received from their school. They strongly admired how the job built up their knowledge, skills, and also their personality. The more they dealt with guests, the more they learnt from their jobs, as seen in the following statement.
Interviewee #17: I didn’t realize before that I love my job so much. I have developed my conceptual skill as well as my personality. I believe that I earned a lot more than my degree.
The desire to take care of the guests and to comfort them was seen in most of the participants. The successful small hotel business recognizes how important is the willingness to learn from the staff.
4.2.3.9 Exertion/Never Giving Up
Exertion refers to the willingness to think and create things no matter the time and effort spent to complete the tasks. The participants revealed the positive energy inside that made them continue to think and create things until it was done with no feeling of being tired. Four out of 40 participants also reported that not only could work passion stimulate their energy to complete tasks, but when things didn’t go as planned, work passion could also make them determined to start over and finally complete what they were doing, as shown in the following quote.
Interviewee #4: I love doing my job. I can do 24 hours and I enjoy solving all problems without any discourage. If it doesn’t work, I will search for another solution. For example, finally I come up with the program for my hostel guests to have a tour visit around the community.
A strong feeling of love for and excitement about the job motivated the participants to work hard, focus, and leverage their competence for work effort. They also had a state of flow in the engaged activity.
4.2.3.10 Altruism
Altruism refers to the willingness to do things that brings an advantage/well-being to others with the involvement of the hotel and tourism business. Six out of 10 owners or executives of the small hotel business showed their concern about social issues, and local traditional culture and how the tourism business can be strengthened. Consequently, they contributed their knowledge and experience to the hotel and tourism business in the form of business models, marketing strategies, and collaboration among the partners and the community to bring advantages and well-being to all other stakeholders.
Interviewee #32: I am a person who is happy with the surrounding. I have a good intention to raise the quality of living in this community. With a long year of service in a field of tourism, I would like to return some good things to my hometown/ province as well.
Interviewee #20: I personally love social activities. At present, I have a chance to work with Tourism Authority of Thailand and we have made a good network among hotels. This is an energy driving me to do more for this tourist destination.
Passionate owners or executives shared a common perspective of the business that they had less concern about income. Their common goal was to see the sustainable development of tourism, along with a better living in the community.
4.2.3.11 Entrepreneurial Spirit
Entrepreneurial spirit refers to the behavior of managing and developing the business on behalf of the owner in order to make some changes and to expect to see the growth of the business. In the case of the small hotel business, owners and employees have a close relationship, like a family, and they also work together as a team. Responding to a theme that emerged from the data, this construct highlights how 20 out of 40 participants put their time and effort into managing and developing
the business, as well as having an ownership spirit. The focus was more on the holistic view of all stakeholders, as shown in the following quotes.
Interviewee #1: I can work 24 hours and solve all related problems without any discouragement. I always bring new things or new concept to the hotel.
To see the growth of the hotel is my happiness.
Interviewee #31: Whenever I perform my function, the idea flows very well. I always finish my job at one time without a break. I am still fresh and happy even it takes longer hours. My intention is to see how the hotel can generate more revenue.
The entrepreneurial spirit of the employees was shown in how highly devoted they were to their duties and also in the empowerment they received from the owners or executives in solving all related problems. Work passion empowered them to perform in a certain way. Interviewee #17 said that his boss not only gives him an order, but she also gives some advice. She lets him take the ownership of his part and come up with a new the idea for it. Thus, he and his colleague enjoy thinking and contributing to the work and hotel.
4.2.4 The Factors Leading to Work Passion for Innovative Work